The State of 8

Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Big Love, Milk, J. Edgar), one of the most recognizable names in the LGBT-rights movement, is once again using his storytelling prowess to teach a history lesson, this time about the 2011 courtroom drama that overturned California’s gay-marriage ban, Proposition 8. The documentary play, called 8,...

By Josiah Hesse

October 11, 2012

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Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Big Love, Milk, J. Edgar), one of the most recognizable names in the LGBT-rights movement, is once again using his storytelling prowess to teach a history lesson, this time about the 2011 courtroom drama that overturned California’s gay-marriage ban, Proposition 8.

The documentary play, called 8, was recently released to the public free of charge, and grassroots showings have been taking place around the country.

“Colorado is still very much a swing state on the issue of civil unions,” says Emily Tarquin, who is producing a staged reading of 8 in Denver. “We want to bring further conversation about these issues to light, bringing the LGBT community, the theater community and politicians into the same room to discuss it.”

Tonight’s staging — a one-night-only event at the Stage Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex — will be followed by a panel discussion that includes Colorado House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino and Senator Lucía Guzmán. Tickets are $20, with proceeds going to charities including One Colorado. For more information, visit www.denvercenter.org.
Mon., Oct. 15, 7 p.m., 2012

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